V. K. R. V. Rao (Vijayendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao), (1908–1991) was a prominent Indian economist, politician, professor and educator. He was born in a Tamil family on 8 July 1908 at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu to Kasturirangachar and Bharati Amma.

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He had his early schooling in Tindivanam and Madras (Chennai). He was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan. He served as a Union Minister for the Education in 1971, elected as member for Bellary in 1967 and 1971. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1937 from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. The title of his doctoral thesis was "The national income of British India, 1931-1932". He studied with John Maynard Keynes.

Rao established three noted institutions in Social Science research in India: Delhi School of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth and the Institute for Social and Economic Change. He was also instrumental in establishing the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Agro-economic Centres and Population Research Centres. He created an autonomous public body in the form of the Indian Council of Social Science Research. This was established under the Societies Registration Act (1860) on 30 July 1969 at Delhi. All the 3 institutions founded by him, even today maintain very close intra-institutional relationship. Another organization that owes its present prominence to Rao’s vision is the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi. He was the third president of Delhi Karnataka Sangha.

Notable among his works are: Taxation of Income in India (1931), An essay on India’s National Income -1925-29 – (1936); The National Income of British India (1940); India and International Currency Plans (1945); Post-War Rupee (1948); Gandhian Alternative to Western Socialism (1970); Values and Economic Development – The Indian Challenge (1971); the Nehru Legacy (1971); Swami Vivekananda – Prophet of Vedantic Socialism (1978); Many Languages and One Nation – the Problem of Integration (1979); India’s National Income 1950-80 (1983) Food, Nutrition and Poverty (1982); Indian socialism: Retrospect and Prospect (1982), etc. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1974.

Notable among the learned bodies and conferences with which he was associated are: Corresponding Member, Institute de Science Economique, Paris; Correspondent, Royal Economic Society, London; Hon. Member, Japan Economic Research Centre, Delhi Karnataka Sangha, Tokyo; Member, Governing Body, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth; Member, Governing Body, International Economic Association; Member, Governing Body, International Institute for Educational Planning; President, Indian Agricultural Economic Conference; etc. etc. He was member of several Commissions and Committees, prominent among which being Member-Secretary, Bombay Economic Industrial Survey Committee; Chairman, U.N Sub-Commission for Economic Development (which led to the establishment of the soft loan window of the World Bank, the IDA; Member, Taxation Enquiry Commission, Member, National Income Committee; Member, Planning Advisory Board, Government of India; Chairman, U.N Sub-Committee on Experts on Levels of Living; etc.